The 11 Most Insane Things That Happened In Kentucky In 2015
By Jenn Shockley|Published December 29, 2015
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Jenn Shockley
Author
I am somewhat a cliche'. I grew up running around barefoot on a farm in Kentucky.
I love writing, art, sunshine, all animals and my incredibly patient husband, who tolerates my "crazy animal lady" side.
Kentucky is pretty chill most of the time, other than Kentucky Derby week and college basketball season. The rest of the year we tend to work hard and sit around afterward sipping tea, bourbon or beer. During 2015 things got a little crazier than normal, and we even managed to capture nationwide media attention a few times. Unfortunately, it wasn’t for our benevolence or our fine southern cooking. No… instead it was in the midst of some debauchery and social media took it viral. On the up side, our insane is still mild in comparison to most everywhere else so we can welcome 2016 with a clear conscious.
Here are 11 insane things that happened in Kentucky during 2015:
11. Equal law equal rights in Rowan County, despite efforts of the opposite.
In September, the elected Rowan County Clerk took center stage in a media circus when she refused to sign off on marriage licenses for couples she didn’t approve of based on religion. Since law and religion are two different entities, this was a problem, justice stepped up and she ended up in jail. This gained national media recognition, but was an embarrassment due to the officials own questionable background.
Try to prevent future county clerk debacles and unnecessary media attention. Bevin has elected to not require the County Clerk signature on marriage licenses in the future. This has not been confirmed, as it conflicts with the previous requirements. This makes the future of his plan unstable, as other politicians and public officials are questioning the overall validity of such a license.
According to WAVE 3, on December 27, Kentucky State Police in Daviess County stated there will be more than 730 people killed on Kentucky roadways during 2015. This is a significant rise from four years ago. It has also been noted 60% of people killed were not wearing seatbelts.
This has been a rough year for University of Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino. Earlier in the year there were accusations of encouraging inappropriate behavior with prostitutes. Now he is accused of flipping the bird to the Kentucky fans after the Cardinals loss December 26th.
More than 2,000 teenagers caused disruptions in the Mall in St. Matthews, causing police to shut down the mall and some other local businesses in the area. Think wealthy "Children of the Corn", with a mall setting instead of a corn field, and no evil corn god. Oh, and they crave video games, electronics and designer clothes instead of blood.
After several readers mentioned being WKU fans, I scanned our local media back to Sept. for any mention. I saw Western in a small piece from October. After that is was primarily Louisville and Kentucky, regardless of sport. Thus, WKU and EKU fans, your struggle is real.
Black Friday became Bleak Friday, as people lost their minds and their holiday. These "adults" physically assaulted one another in order to get gifts. Shoppers literally brawled to the point that Kentucky made national headlines for the most brawls on Black Friday. These people go on the naughty list forever…
The Franklin County Sheriff’s office posted the following on their Facebook page, "Is your drug dealing competition costing you money? We offer a free service to help you eliminate the competition." This is an interesting use of social media for law enforcement. Props to this sheriff and an A for efforts not thought of by other departments.
Louisville builds a pedestrian bridge to Indiana. Why? With the bridge construction and closing you will likely get to the other side quicker strolling instead of driving.
2. It was the fourth rainiest year in our history.
According to WLKY Belski’s blog, this is the fourth rainiest year in the history of our state. The years that outrank us are 1996, 2004 and 2011, but we only needed 3.09 to take 3rd place from 1996 as of December 27. Its been raining pretty hard since then in some parts of the state. All this rain is causing more than our fair share of flash floods.
That’s right, it has been in the 60s and 70s in the northern part of the state, and we’ve had record highs. Some people were horribly disappointed in the lack of a white Christmas, but I personally loved it. The weather has been so moody, even the geese don’t know when to head south.
Some folks might try to blame it on the bourbon, even when they don’t drink it. The truth is, we, the people, all make mistakes, and our insane doesn’t really seem that bad for 2015. Perhaps I’m a little bias, but Mother Nature gets a lot crazier in Kentucky than most her residents. I’d just as soon blame any insanity on the weather as it can drive you a little batty never knowing what to expect. Hope everyone has a happy New Year and can celebrate the beginning of 2016 with happy thoughts. What memorable event in Kentucky sticks out in your mind from 2015?
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